She would hide Derwyn’s locket, which was nearly identical in appearance to the other two, and tell him the girl had stolen it. She had already been convicted as a thief, so no one would doubt the story.
Laera quickly thought it through.
She would express sorrow over the way the ungrateful girl had repaid her for giving her another chance at life, and would tell Derwyn the whole thing was a sad misfortune but she could always get another locket and another lock of his hair to put inside it. It was only that she had grown so very attached to that one, because it had such special meaning….
Derwyn would have his men-at-arms turn the city upside down searching for the girl. They would
scour the surrounding countryside an announce a substantial reward for her arrest and the return of the missing locket … no, she would have to account for two, so that she could make certain they were both returned. She would say the second locket was one given her by her mother. It had held a lock of her dead father’s hair. Yes, that would be perfect.
The girl had not had much of a head start. She would not get far, thought Laera with grim satisfaction. All she had to do was wake Derwyn and express such anguish and distress over the missing lockets that he would immediately send his men-atarms out in search of the girl. She would be apprehended by morning.
Laera bent over her husband and made a pass over him with her fingers, whispering the words that would remove the spell that held him in a trance. Now all she had to do was cry out and he would wake, alarmed, andThe sound of frenzied screaming echoed through the castle.
Derwyn sat up in bed. “By Haelyn, what was that?”
Laera was taken aback. The cry had not been hers.
It had come from outside their chambers, echoing through the halls, and it continued, shattering the stillness of the night. It was a woman screaming, someone in terrible agony…
Derwyn leapt from the bed and reached for his sword belt, buckling it on over his nightshirt. “By all the gods, it sounds as if someone is being murdered!”
There was the sound of running footsteps outside in the corridor, and an instant later, someone was
pounding on the door. Derwyn threw it open to reveal one of the house guards.
“Come quickly, Your Lordship! It’s the empress!”
“May the heavens preserve us!” Derwyn exclaimed.
“I’m coming with you!” Laera said. Meanwhile, her mind raced. This was too much of a coincidence. Gella had given her the Gorgon’s dose only several hours earlier. Before the traitorous girl had stolen the tokens and absconded with them, she had reported that she had administered the content of the vial, as directed, pouring them into a goblet of mulled ale, and she had watched the empress drink it. It had to be the potion, whatever it was. Had the Gorgon lied to her? Had it been some poison meant to kill the empress?
Laera felt a thrill of excitement as she hurried down the corridor after Derwyn. This unexpected development could turn out to be even better than she’d planned. If the empress died, she could blame Gella for having poisoned her. No one would believe anything the girl said after she was apprehended.
After all, she was a criminal. Had she not been arrested once before for stabbing a man? But what motive would she have for murdering the empress?
It would make no difference, Laera thought. Perhaps the empress caught her trying to steal some jewelry.
That would fit in well with her story of the stolen lockets. Or perhaps she was just insane. She would never escape now. And once she was caught, if she started babbling about having given some strange potion to the empress on Laera’s orders, she would only convince everyone she was crazy.
Yes, thought Laera as she hurried toward the emperor’s quarters, this could work out very well,
46?
indeed. Faelina’s death would shatter Michael. And as the story spread, it could be slanted in a favorable way, as if it were all an omen from the gods. The empress had died because the emperor was not meant to have an heir. He had angered Haelyn and brought it on himself.
The door to the emperor’s quarters stood wide open, and people had crowded in. Michael was standing by the bedside, frantic.
“The physicians!” he kept shouting. “What’s happening to her?
Somebody do something! By the gods, where are the physicians?”
Aedan was there, too, along with Ariel and several other members of the emperor’s inner circle.
Faelina was in bed, thrashing like a fish out of water and screaming with pain. She was covered with sweat, and she had thrown the covers off. Laera immediately ran to her side, as if to comfort her, but Faelina was in such agony, she was unable to respond.
“Get out!” said Laera. “Get out, all of you, and let her breathe!
Where are the physicians?”
As if on cue, one of the physicians came rushing in. “Everyone except the emperor and Duchess Laera, please leave at once,” he said. “Lord Aedan, you have the healing blood ability. Can you assist me?”
Aedan was pale.
